IAI Conference. International Agrichar initiative

[Michaelangelica]

IAI Conference. International Agrichar initiative
Some initial thoughts and reactions.

A two day talk fest near Sydney, NSW Australia just finished.
About 150+ people attended.
Wall to wall Ph.D's in every discipline know to man, soil biology, engineering, microbiology, microbiology, material science, archeology, ecology, agriculture and even two farmers and two gardeners.
No politicians, little (virtually nil) press.

The IAI hopes to have all the papers up on their website in two to three weeks. (depending on author copyright permission)
The papers/proceedings will be well worth a day or two's browse if you are seriously interested in TP.
Hopefully they will also have the poster presentations which I found especially interesting and did not get time to study in more detail.
I took extensive notes of lectures and would be happy to help explain any lectures that might be a bit brief and truncated in a web PP presentation.

I will make a few posts about the conference over the next little while when my head stops spinning.
People were very nice, friendly and talkative even if sometimes suffering from a touch of Aspergers
Judging from the limited number of people I was able to talk to (I should have stayed for dinner and field trips) and some good guessing there was:-
No one from hypography , I person from permaculture,(the guy who started the TP link there) and about six from the Bio, Terra preta mailing-list.

People really wanted a hypography type forum. I tried to get the organizers to promote the forum (S) but failed.(They set a cracking pace with little time for digression)
Perhaps Hypog will be mentioned when all the papers come out.

All presentations where excellent.
Power Point and USB devices have certainly changed the world of "chalk and talk"

Again on the small sampling of people I was able to talk to; People seemed to divide into
1) those who want to make money from selling char machines,bio-oil, green coal, big agribusiness etc
2) those who had research careers in the area and tended mostly (but not always) to focus on minutiae
3) those who really didn't know much about TP at all. and were looking for more information. They looked a bit bemused by it all
4) people concerned about global warming
5) those wanting to do, or encourage more research.

I sat down to lunch yesterday with a farmer from Bolivia, a person from Epidra USA, a NZlander connected with their Govt primary industries and a Englishman who explains new technologies to business. Quite a range of countries and occupations.

The lecturer comment that sticks in my head the most?
Dr. Johannes Lehmann, (Cornell soil scientist and author of Amazonian Dark Earths) had a great photo of TP soil going down a metre or two. There were stacks more pottery shards in the soil than I ever imagined there would be. Some quite big bits, slabs almost, all the way down though the soil. I asked about this and he said not all TP soils have pottery " If you go back to before they had pottery say 6,000 years ago you just get stone age artifacts."

If you think about this I think he was telling me that there is 6,000 year old soil in Brazil /tropics that is still fertile after all those years..!!!

No wonder TP has not seeped into our collective consciousness yet.
It would be easier to believe in fairies at the bottom of my garden!

[neshura]

Thank you for posting this! This is the post that popped up at the top of my google search a few hours ago which led me to the forum which led me to registering as a new user, so... hello to everyone in the Terra Preta community.

It is impressive that the post floated right to the top of a google hit within a day of being posted. I am looking forward to reading any literature posted as a follow-up to this conference.

[Philip Small]

That is so great you were able to attend and represent our

TP DIY Caucus

The International Agrichar Initiative website indicates here that "all PowerPoint presentations and submitted papers will be posted." When IAI has these up, it would be neat to see some selected Michaelangelica commentary posted to hypography, along with a link to the relevant presentation/ppt file.

Hypography/terra-preta users should visit the initiative's great collection of classic biochar/agrichar articles (see here)

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by Philip Small

That is so great you were able to attend and represent our

The International Agrichar Initiative website indicates here that "all PowerPoint presentations and submitted papers will be posted." When IAI has these up, it would be neat to see some selected Michaelangelica commentary posted to hypography, along with a link to the relevant presentation/ppt file.

Hypography/terra-preta users should visit the initiative's great collection of classic biochar/agrichar articles (see here)

Yes love too
This is Kelpie Wilsons report. I recommend it to you! I was lucky enough to meet her at the conference
She writes like an angel, & gives you the feeling of excitement awe and urgency that permeated the room
There were about 150 people there; nearly 200 for a couple of sessions on the second day
Kelpie Wilson | Birth of a New Wedge
The first meeting of the International Agrichar Initiative convened about 100 scientists, policymakers, farmers and investors with the goal of birthing an entire new industry to produce a biofuel that goes beyond carbon neutral and is ...
truthout - t r u t h o u t | News Politics
This will take you straight to it
Kelpie Wilson | Birth of a New Wedge
You can "Digg" it here
Digg - Birth of a New Wedge- by Kelpie Wilson
or
"2CNN note" it here
Birth of a New Wedge - Care2 News Network

My google alert also came up with this, but it is only kelpie's article stolen.
Charcoal from biowaste may remove carbon from atmosphere, on ...
By grahamia
The first meeting of the International Agrichar Initiative convened about 100 scientists, policymakers, farmers and investors with the goal of birthing an entire new industry to produce a biofuel that goes beyond carbon neutral and is ...
relocalize.net - Network News - Network News | relocalize.net

Another report on the conference. 3.30 am 6 may
An interesting perspective with the pertinent questions/challenges for the future of TP
sydneypeakoil.com :: View topic - terra preta conference in terrigal

the debates about the benefits to AGW are only just beginning.

In short, being a part of the conference could be compared to hearing an orchestra tuning up. There are skillful cellists and masterful tuba players preparing next to each other. The idea is potential for beautiful music, rather than cacophony. We aren't really sure who the conductor is yet – plenty of skillful people are taking part of that role. There is cooperation and the desire to share experience at all points – but this is a new kind of orchestra.

[Michaelangelica]

Yet another review on The IAI C
Make renewable energy, enrich soils, save on water - too good to be true? — Permaforest Trust
Quoted before?

Watch this space!

Believe it or not, there us very little activity on the net regarding this research – I suspect that will change very rapidly.

++
transect points: Agri Char Conference Reviews